Power Generation,Distribution,and Storage
Power is an important factor in Xenominer: Swarm as it was in the original Xenominer. Object blocks all have energy requires to maintain operational readiness and you will have to make sure that with the Day/Night cycle you always have power available. Power can be generated via Solar Cells, Battery's that have been charged, Geothermal Generator, Power Cells or Alien Power Cells. = Solar Cell = The most basic source of power that can be constructed requiring 10 Silicon or purchased for (X) Gredits. 1 Panel generates 10 power during daylight hours but none during Night. Solar Cells sadly require Batteries for continued operations during Night making the need of a large number of Solar Cells to generate enough power for the base as well as recharge the battery reserves. Solar cells adjacent to one another does not require any extra wiring to others cells as they function the same as circuits. = Battery = A very important component to any solar based power system or as back up in case of unforeseen power failures from explosions near power generation or alien attacks. Batteries are constructed from (x) (Material 1) and (X) (Material 2) or can be purchased for (x) Gredits. You will have to ensure they have a means to be charged so they may be used during Night or in main power failures. Each Battery can hold (x) 1000? kwh (Kilowatt Hour) of power that drains based on the circuits overall load. You will need to ensure there is an excessive amount of power available to ensure the batteries charge to full capacity before night fall. Once they are to capacity they do not take power from the system. Battery Formula Having enough power is very important to keeping operation of defenses and scanners. As an example the Mineral Scanner 3 requires 250 power to ensure operation of the block. So during daylight, so long as there is 25 solar cells there is enough power to run the block. But at night there is nil, which is where batteries come into play. Batteries hold (x) 1000? kwh which means that they store 1000 units of power to be used in 1 game hour (1 Minute). To figure your overnight power take your systems overall daytime consumption ie 250 and multiple it by 12 or 13. (Note: 12 mins = day and night shift = 24 overall but 13 will give you some room). So 13x250=3250/1000=3.25 ie 4 Batteries. (Formula still being refined) (a good strategy is to plug solar cells into the grid and have batteries plugged into a small core to charge, turning the batteries on at night and off when the solar relay is powered up in the day.) = Power Cells = Power Cells are self sustained energy sources and require no recharging. They make great use in turrets keeping them off the main power grids. You find them in 4 varieties: (Power Cell 1) - generates:x power and requires aluminum copper and silicon to build -the basic 'power cell' is not durable and quite vulnerable, should be heavily armored or elevated out of bug reach. moderate explosions on destruction. (Power Cell 2) - generates xx power and requires endurium to craft -Reactor's put out a lot more power than the power cell, but are more volatile and explode for far more damage over a far larger area. (Power Cell 3) - generates xxx power but requires diamond titanium and endurium in large quantities to craft one. -reinforced reactors are a base's best friend if you dont have Xenotech, very durable compared to others and the highest self sufficient power output before Xenotech. Alien Power Cell - generates 500 power and can only be found in Tech Gather missions. -the most durable power source in the game and an advanced base's best friend.being as only 3 are acquirable on the best seed of tech gather on the 3 low tier planets they are costly and should not be thrown about willy nilly. they have a comparably massive durability rating over the others, even immune to some sources of damage, and their output is superior as well. These Power Cells are especially useful on Hive Assault missions for creating immediate defenses to back you up while in the mission. = Geothermal Generator = The most efficient means of generating power especially on planet Kelt where magma is abound. Depending on its placement you can generate either 250 power from dark magma blocks or 1000 power on bright magma blocks. Magma can be found on every location save The Belt, on the bedrock level. Circuits will be needed to bring the power to the surface and will draw the xenos to them. = Distribution = Circuits are need to move power from the source towards where its need and comes in 3 varities: Circuit (1) a cheap part for credits or takes 1 copper to make. very vulnerable and should be protected well if used Circuit (2) A cleaner version then the basic circuit and takes (x) material(s) to make and costs (x) credits about twice as durable as the normal circuit. still vulnerable but much less likely to fail in 2-3 star missions if not heavily reinforced. should always be used in place of normals in higher than 3 star missions. Xeno Circuit (3) An alien circuit found only in Tech Gather missions very exotic in its look. highest durability of circuits and seems to get a slight durability buff when used in Xenotech constructs (xenotech design buff needs confirmation) There is a special block called Power Distributers that can double as a circuit but functions to transmit power from power grids directly to adjacent ExoDrone Batteries allowing a faster charge in its range is unknown (exact range is more based on excess power it seems) . Groups or these blocks type can drastically increase the recharge rates of ExoDrones in the area but are more fragile than circuits, and will kill batteries if not turned off at night.